Civics get stolen for parts.
Acuras get stolen for their engines.
Why the Camry is on the list is puzzling. My only guess is it's easy to steal and doesn't stand out for those late night drug runs.

Easiest car in the world to steal, I swear, is a Dodge Shadow/Acclaim/Voyager of the early 1990s. I can break into one of those and steal it in probably 60 seconds, and I'm not a car thief. The ignition switch is one of the easiest to break into, and gaining entry to the car...well, let's just say you don't need to break a window. I used to have several claims a year on those. I guess even thieves strive for something better now.

I understood that cars were stolen for two main reasons. The first is parts, lots of people nick Civics and Camrys and Accords and trucks because they are the best-selling cars out there. Lot's of other people need the parts for their cars and disreputable shops are supplying the demand.

The other reason is for joyrides, and some cars are easier to steal than other. The word on how to steal a model gets popular on the streets and then it starts to dissapear. The easy ones are getting older and older, but people still know how so if thery are out there they are going to get taken.

ddavidv wrote:
Civics get stolen for parts.
Acuras get stolen for their engines.
Why the Camry is on the list is puzzling. My only guess is it's easy to steal and doesn't stand out for those late night drug runs.
Easiest car in the world to steal, I swear, is a Dodge Shadow/Acclaim/Voyager of the early 1990s. I can break into one of those and steal it in probably 60 seconds, and I'm not a car thief. The ignition switch is one of the easiest to break into, and gaining entry to the car...well, let's just say you don't need to break a window. I used to have several claims a year on those. I guess even thieves strive for something better now.

Those camry's have been on the list for years. I have one and am not sure why, there must be some secret trick to stealing them because I still have mine and it dosen't seem that easy to get into. I agree with k-cars, I could get into a friends dodge in High School with a key from our Chrysler.

The local scandal rag had a listing of the most stolen cars in the local area. #1 on the list? The 1994 Honda Accord. Guess what the ball and chain drives? Yup. Good thing I have a security system. It won't stop a determined thief, but it will discourage the casual window buster.

The really hot thing to steal around here now is catalytic converters. The KIA dealer I used to work for got hit Sunday night for 17 of them. Usual method: battery operated Sawzall, late night, back of the parking lot.

Easy cars to steal: late '80's GM midsize (Lesabre, Delta 88, etc) are super easy- IF you know what you are doing. I swear the kids could start them faster with a pair of needlenose pliers than the owner could with the key. Chrysler used a similar design.

This reminds me of a Harley I saw at a car show recently. It was sitting in the street with the rest of the cars/bikes, with the keys in it! Maybe not intentional, but I doubt many people would be able to steel it. It was a very old model with a suicide shifter (hand operated on the left side of the bike) and a kick starter! You would have to be pretty familiar to ride it, and pretty hard core to start it.

aircooled, technically, a suicide clutch is a foot operated clutch with the holding spring removed, so it only disengages the clutch when you step on the clutch pedal, like on a car. These usualy are found with a "jockey shift" that has the shifter ratchet arm down on the transmission, so you step on the clutch with your left foot, reach down by your side with your left arm and shift, then let the clutch out. A foot clutch/tank shift as they came from the factory was different. With it, the clutch had a foot board kinda thing. You step on it and pivot it one way to disengate the clutch and it would stay there if you took your foot off. You step on it and pivot it the other way to engage the clutch. Shifting was via a lever bolted to the left (HD) gas tank. So, you disengaged the clutch, shifted at the tank, engaged the clutch. At a stop, you could leave it in gear with the clutch disengaged, then engage the clutch and go. With a suicide clutch, at a stop you have to either keep your left foot on the clutch and balance the bike on your right foot or leave the bike in neutral with both feet on the ground. You gotta be pretty hard core to run a suicide clutch/jockey shift. All these bikes came kickstart only. The first electric start bike wasn't until well after the hand clutch/foot shift came along. Seeing pictures of people racing foot clutch/tank shift bikes on the dirt are pretty amazing.

I once left my 1966 Land Rover in our shop with the keys in it. One of my coworkers had to move it. After half an hour, he admitted defeat - he couldn't get it running. That's probably the only thing it has in common with a Harley, other than oil leaks and the tendency to run on two cylinders once in a while.

Around here, it's fun to read the police blotter. Stolen cars are always something like a 1988 Buick. Nothing good ever gets stolen.

Jensenman wrote:
The local scandal rag had a listing of the most stolen cars in the local area. #1 on the list? The 1994 Honda Accord. Guess what the ball and chain drives? Yup. Good thing I have a security system. It won't stop a determined thief, but it will discourage the casual window buster.
The really hot thing to steal around here now is catalytic converters. The KIA dealer I used to work for got hit Sunday night for 17 of them. Usual method: battery operated Sawzall, late night, back of the parking lot.
Easy cars to steal: late '80's GM midsize (Lesabre, Delta 88, etc) are super easy- IF you know what you are doing. I swear the kids could start them faster with a pair of needlenose pliers than the owner could with the key. Chrysler used a similar design.

Yea a lot of Hondas that have come in have gotten their cats jacked.

On another similar note, there is a dude on LS1tech.com encourage people to sell their cats to him at $60 a pop. Whatever they are doing with them they are making some bank if they are paying people $120 a set for those. Hey it paid for half of my headers.